Kira's Pain
by Raven D'Acanto
Summary: A story about a demon girl named Kira that was one of Sirius' little secrets. Now, she is sent to Hogwarts with other demons to keep an eye on Harry and the other students. after the 5th book
1. prologue

Prologue

Every person in the world takes something for granted, whether it's a family, a home, money, or something as simple as a smile. Nobody has everything, but everyone has something at one time or another. Some things that are taken for granted aren't appreciated for what they really are, or aren't appreciated until they're gone. But there are few people who appreciate things while they have them, and even fewer people who have nothing to appreciate.

A person named Kira is one of those very few people. She knows she used to have something, but all she can remember is being alone and empty. The only thing that hurts more than having nothing is having nothing and being told repeatedly that you have nothing, and always will. Kira was told this everyday as long as she can remember; until she was found by a man named Sirius Black.

When Kira was abandoned by the torture-some people that had destroyed her life, she was found by Black, and saved. It is unknown to most people that Sirius had another acquaintance aside from the dementors that had haunted his dreams and the kind people in the Order of the Phoenix. The only others that knew Kira were Albus Dumbledore, Mad-Eye Moody, Jesse Ravenna, and Tonks.

Kira trusted all of them, and appreciated everything they did for her; from giving her a home and food, to being something like friends. Kira trusted Sirius the most; he was like the kind of person Kira had dreamt of meeting during her fourteen years in her horrible cage of a life. She would tell Sirius anything, and she trusted him with her life. The one thing Kira didn't like about Sirius was that he was known to take chances.

There was one chance Sirius took that Kira knew he shouldn't. His godson had run off and was being followed by the evil dark lord known as Voldemort, or more commonly, You-Know-Who. His godson had no parents because they were killed by Voldemort, but the boy, at one year of age, managed to somehow defeat the dark lord. This boy was famous to the entire wizarding world, but known to nobody in the human world, the world of muggles. To the wizards, the boy with a scar on his forehead had killed You-Know-Who and wherever he went, his name was always whispered: Harry Potter.

When Sirius had heard that Harry was being followed by Voldemort, he took immediate action to go after him. Mad-Eye, Dumbledore, and Tonks also went with him. Kira had begged Sirius to stay behind with her, to not put himself in danger. All he did was tell Jesse to stay there and keep an eye on her. Kira went angrily away from Sirius and went into her room, where she would stay until he returned home. In some ways, she has never left that room, not entirely. She is still waiting for Sirius to come home, although she knows, in her heart, that he'll never come home again.


	2. ch 1

Ch. 1

When Albus Dumbledore had witnessed Sirius Black's death, he knew what he would eventually have to do. After Voldemort fled from the scene, Dumbledore helped Harry Potter through his troubles as best he could. He was comforted to find that Tonks and Mad-Eye and a few others were going to take Harry back to his home; with his muggle Aunt and Uncle. The muggles were horrible to deal with, so Harry's team of friends made sure that his Aunt and Uncle would treat him well during his time of sadness. In the mean time, Dumbledore knew he would have to take care of Kira, who was still waiting for Sirius' return.

Professor Albus Dumbledore walked into Sirius' house and up the flight of stairs. The house seemed oddly quiet, without anybody in it. Even the small mumbling house elf named Kreacher was gone. Dumbledore tried to not let the house's quietness get to his forced cheery attitude. He didn't want to seem too sad when he approached Kira.

She was sitting on a pile of straw, leaning up against Buckbeak, a huge, half horse half eagle hippogriff. When Dumbledore opened the door, Buckbeak and Kira looked up suddenly. When Buckbeak noticed it wasn't Sirius, he looked back down and continued to chew on a small bone. Kira, on the other hand, stood and walked hopefully to Dumbledore.

"Well?" She asked, "Where's Sirius?"

"I am sorry, my dear." Professor Dumbledore said quietly, "He's not here."

"Why not? Where is he?" She demanded. Dumbledore's eyes softened greatly as he looked into Kira's hopeful eyes. "Well?" she asked slowly. All he could do was to shake his head slowly. "No." Kira said quietly, "No, no, oh no!" her voice raised uncontrollably "NO!" She ran out of the room, pushing past Dumbledore. Running down the stairs, all the way yelling Sirius' name frantically, Kira then ran around the house. When she found that neither Sirius nor Kreacher were there, she ran back into the living room, where Dumbledore was standing.

Kira looked to him frantically, then to the door. If Sirius really was gone, then she would be able to leave the house. He had put a spell on it; she wouldn't be able to leave, unless Sirius gave her permission or he was gone. Kira ran to the door, yanked it open and ran right over the threshold. She stopped suddenly when she got outside and spun on her heel to look back at the house. When she saw Dumbledore standing over the door, she felt her heart break in half. She felt her eyes begin to tear and her throat tightened and she felt herself break down. He really was gone, Sirius was gone. She would never see him again. Kira fell to her knees and felt warm tears fall down her cheeks.

Dumbledore walked out of the house and knelt next to Kira. "I am truly sorry, my dear. We have lost a dear friend and a wonderful wizard. In his absence, I am willing to care for you as best as I can." He put a comforting hand on Kira's back.

She looked up at Dumbledore and nodded slowly. "Thank you for your offer. I don't know if I would want to stay here much longer, knowing that it doesn't belong to Sirius anymore." Kira looked back at the house, another tear running down her cheek.

Dumbledore stood straight and offered a hand to Kira. "We can go to Hogwarts. There, you can be safe and happy… if you let yourself stay happy." Kira nodded solemnly and took Dumbledore's hand. As she stood, there was a clatter and a candelabra fell at their feet. "Are you ready, my dear?" Kira nodded and put her hand on the small candelabra. Dumbledore did the same and the spinning sensation of the portkey came over the two.

When Kira and Dumbledore landed, Kira found herself looking at the Hogwarts Express. "The train will leave to pick up the students soon. I suggest you ride the train there. Some other demons, like you, will be there. I have assigned a few demons to watch over Hogwarts, I would find it an honor if you decided to help as well." Dumbledore said as the whistle on the train blew. Kira smiled and nodded. One of the doors opened and Kira walked on.

"Get off, now!" Vernon shouted to his nephew. "I trust you can get your own bags."

Harry Potter nodded as he got out of the car and pulled a large suitcase out of the trunk. In his other hand, Harry held a cage that had a snowy-white owl named Hedwig chirping happily in it. Harry wheeled his bags down the sidewalk and to platform nine. Then, looking at the wall in between platform nine and ten, Harry took a deep breath. He walked forward quickly and closed his eyes right before he hit the wall. When Harry opened his eyes again, he saw that he was now looking at the Hogwarts Express.

Aside from the usual witches and wizards walking around the train, Harry noticed other people, dressed in elaborate and strange clothes walking among the crowd. When Harry got on the train and found his two friends, Ron and Hermione, he looked out the window to see the families of the students were being pushed back by the strange people.

"What you lookin' at?" Ron asked as he looked out the window.

Harry pointed to the strange people pushing back the families. Hermione looked over the two's shoulders and commented. "They don't look like wizards, how they dress, I wonder why they're doing that?" The loud train whistle to the Hogwarts Express went off and all the people looked up suddenly.

"Stay back!" One tall boy shouted to the crowd. "Go back through the platform!" The families reluctantly went back through the portal one by one as the train slowly began to move and take up speed. "C'mon guys! Let's go!" The tall boy shouted as he began to run after the train. All the others followed him and, as they reached the end one by one, transformed into strange gargoyle-looking people. Their heads had horns coming from the top and their whole bodies were scaly. Their shoes faded and were long, clawed feet. Their hands were also clawed. A long, dragon-like tale had appeared along with powerful, leathery wings. They were all a variety of rich, deep colors and, in unison, they flew into the air, their powerful wings flapping defiantly.

Some smiled at the astonished faces of all the students as they flew around the Hogwarts Express, others didn't seem to notice, or they acted like it. There was a clatter in the hallway in the train and the door leading into the train flew open. A few of the strange people walked into the train. As soon as they landed, they looked normal again. One walked down and, after noticing that none of the other spaces were open, he walked to the door where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting. "Do you mind if I stay in here for a while?" Ron shook his head and with a smile, the boy walked into the room.

After a few moments of silence, Hermione spoke up, "If you don't mind my asking, what, exactly, are you?"

He smiled. "Well, why don't we start with introductions first, I hate having to be judged by _what_ I am, when I can just tell you _who_ I am first." He cleared his throat, "My name is Artemis."

"I'm Hermione, and this is Ron and Harry." Harry and Ron gave small waves.

"Pleased to meet you," Artemis said with a smile. "And now I will tell you _what_ we are." He looked out the window at all the others that were flying around. "We are demons; one of the most powerful and definitely the most hated creatures in the wizarding world. Although we mostly look normal, we can change, like them out there." Artemis talked to Harry, Ron, and Hermione for a while, until the trip was almost half way over with, when he stood and nodded to them. "It was fun speaking with you, but I'm afraid I have to go out and switch roles with one of the others."

All of the demons that were flying outside came into the train while they traded places with all the others. Another demon approached Artemis, a fire demon, like himself. Artemis smiled and gave a light bow and said happily, "Kira, my love, your room."

"Right," she said quietly in response. Then she looked in at the room and froze when she saw Harry, Ron and Hermione sitting there.

She looked back at Artemis, who replied smoothly, "There were no others open. So sorry you can't have the quiet you so desperately cling to."

Kira looked at Artemis quickly and gave him a cold glare, "I don't _cling_. Silence is the only happiness I can experience; and don't you _dare_ mock me because of it ever again." She then turned away from him and walked into the small room that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in. Artemis shrugged and walked away from them and out of the train, where he flew with great happiness around the Hogwarts Express.

Kira sat in silence for most of the trip. A little while before the train reached its destination; Hermione turned to Harry and began to speak. "So, Harry, how was your summer vacation?" Kira turned to Harry quickly and eyed him.

"Just as horrible as always," Harry said with a sigh. Then he noticed Kira looking at him and glanced over to her.

"Harry…" Kira said quietly, "Is there a _last_ name to go with that?"

"Potter," Harry replied with a small sigh. He wished that people would stop treating him like some kind of celebrity or, more recently, some kind of criminal.

She nodded in recognition and stood. "I think I'll go outside." She walked out of the room quickly and noticed the train was slowing down. Clumps of students were beginning to swarm out of their rooms. Kira, in her newly rediscovered bad mood, raised her hands into the air and black flames spread up and cleared a path for her. All the students looked frightened as Kira passed them.

She left the train and flew into the air, swooping around the train a few times while the students left the train and got into the carriages. When the carriages took off, the demons flew swiftly after them and landed on the roofs. Kira caught up with Artemis and flew next to him for a while. When he turned to her, she hit him.

"Hey!" He shouted after he had gotten his balance back. "What was that for!"

"You knew!" Kira shouted back, her wings beating heavier with anger, "You knew it was him and you still stuck me in there with him! Is it, like, your goal in life to make my life suck even more!"

"I didn't think it would be a big deal," Artemis stammered. "I figured you'd _want_ to meet the person you're going to be protecting for the next few months… or years."

Kira sighed, "Oh fine." She said quietly, "I guess you're right. Sorry."

A grin spread across Artemis' face, "I knew it! You like me, don't you."

Kira shook her head exaggeratedly and flew away from him.


	3. ch 2

Ch. 2

When the carriages stopped in front of Hogwarts, Kira flew with the rest of the demons through the giant doors and into the great hall where they landed along the sides of the walls and stood straight like statues. Kira found herself standing next to Artemis, who was watching all of the students enter, still eyeing all of the demons. Some of them looked terrified, other were casual about it all. Kira found herself smiling at the different expressions all of the students had.

The doors of the great hall opened again and a group of first years were lead through by Professor McGonagall. The first years looked nervous, as they usually did, but even more so when they saw the demons standing along the sides of the walls. All of the first years lined up in front of the teacher's table, facing the other students. Professor McGonagall put a stool in front of them and the old sorting hat on the stool. The hat was old, with patches in it, and one long rip along one side. Then, the sorting hat came to life. Its mouth opened wide and it began its usual chant that it gave every year.

When it finished, Professor McGonagall took out a piece of paper that had all of the student's names on it. It was now time for each of the students to put on the hat and to be sorted into one of the four houses; Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Professor McGonagall looked down at the paper and called the first student, who sat on the stool, put on the hat, and, after a moment's contemplation from the hat, was sorted into Ravenclaw. This went on until each of the students was sorted into their houses. The Professor McGonagall took the stool and hat back and took her seat at the teacher's table.

Professor Dumbledore stood and silence fell over the room again. "I would like to welcome all of the first years and assistants to Hogwarts. And, I am sure you all would agree, now is not the time for speeches, so, I will say this: tuck in." At those words, the plates were suddenly covered with food of all kinds and the students grabbed at the food and ate to their hearts content.

Kira looked over at Artemis, who was eyeing the food hungrily. "Why do you do that? It's not like we need to eat, any way."

He suddenly noticed her and smiled, "Hey, food is good. It's not my fault you've never tried it before."

Kira shook her head at him, "I just don't understand you."

"Yeah, well get used to it. 'Cuz I'm pretty sure we're working together." He countered, looking back at the food.

"Great." Kira said unenthusiastically.

After the students had finished their meals and were starting to get louder, Dumbledore stood again. The students once again fell silent and all eyes were on him. "Well, now that all of that wonderful food is being digested, I will take a few moments of your time for the usual start of term notices. First years – and some of the elder students –, please notice that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students. Mr. Filch wishes it to be known that magic is not permitted in the corridors between classes, among a number of other things. There is a list on Mr. Filch's office door that lists all of the prohibited items.

"I would like to welcome Professor Jesse Cassidy who is taking the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." Kira looked up suddenly and noticed Jesse sitting at the table next to Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore. Kira suddenly remembered Sirius' leaving, now more vividly than ever. Jesse wore the same dutiful smile he wore now and Kira felt her heart ache to see Sirius again, although she knew there was no way that will ever happen. She then turned her attention back to Dumbledore.

"I would also like to welcome our new guests whom you have undoubtedly noticed." He gestured to the demons standing along the wall. "I ask that you all treat our guests with respect and courtesy, for they are here to protect you all from up coming dangers. I also caution you to be careful what you say to them. I am sure most of you understand the current position they may find themselves in. And I cannot blame any of them for what may happen if some kind of insult was to reach their ears." Kira found herself smiling; as were Artemis and many others.

"Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place…" Kira found herself loosing attention. Her eyes had wandered to Harry Potter, who sat with Ron and Hermione. She wondered how Dumbledore had planned this casual following of Harry, which he had planned for Kira. The students began to stand from their tables, and Kira assumed that Professor Dumbledore had finished his speech. Ron and Hermione had stood and began leading the first years to their classes. Kira let out a long sigh as she leaned against the wall. They were to wait until all of the students had cleared the great hall before they left.

Harry had fallen back into the end of the crowd and was looking over at the demons. Kira watched him, wondering how protecting Harry was going to work out. Dumbledore had told her at the beginning of all this to just use her best judgment for what was a threat to him and what wasn't. But she didn't now if that was a very good idea herself. She came out of her thoughts when she realized Harry was staring at her. She wondered how long he had noticed her watching him, but didn't care.

When the great hall had cleared out, all of the demons walked out, led by Dan, a tall demon that often felt it was his duty to take over. "Ok, gather outside the great hall so we can regroup." Once everybody had gathered around Dan, he began to speak again. "Does everybody know where they are going? And everybody has their partners?" nobody said anything, "Ok, good. Well, I'll see you all tomorrow at breakfast." He then walked to a boy who was his partner and the two began to walk down to their stations.

"Well, looks like we're partners." Artemis said with a wide smile to Kira.

"Oh, joy." Kira said sarcastically. She walked to the railing and jumped over it. She free fell a few stories before she took her demon form and with a great flap of her wings she stopped falling, with another she began her climb to the Gryffindor common room. Artemis waited until she had reached his floor again before launching from the railing to Kira's side.

"You are the craziest person I've ever met." He said when he had caught up to her.

"Just wanna keep you on your toes." Kira said with a smile. Whenever she flew, she felt all of her cares leave her. She soared around the stair cases and dove in and out of hallways as she steadily climbed up to her station. There were still many students in the halls, who looked terrified whenever they saw Kira and Artemis zoom past them and into another hall. Kira was grateful for the high ceilings in Hogwarts. She didn't know how she would be able to make it to the common room in time if she couldn't fly.

When she reached the floor that had the common room on it, she searched for the portrait of the fat lady that marked the entrance to the common room. When she found it, she flew forward and swung herself over the banister and sat neatly on it as she changed back to her human form. When Artemis caught up with her and landed next to her, she turned to him. "What's the password?" she asked him. He shrugged. Kira sighed and crossed her legs, balancing on the banister. "Well, then how are we supposed to get in?" She asked exasperatedly. He shrugged again.

Hearing foot steps, Artemis looked up and saw Harry approaching them. "It looks like we're in luck." Artemis said enthusiastically, "Our savior is here!" Harry looked up at the two of them.

"What?" He asked slowly.

"Harry," Artemis approached him, "We don't have the password to get into the common room, but it's our job to guard it… Think you could tell us what the password is?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah, sure." He faced the portrait of the fat lady and said "Thriving thestrals." The portrait swung open and Harry walked in.

"Thanks." Kira said as he vanished into the common room. She turned to Artemis, "You should stay out here, that way we have somebody on the outside and inside." Artemis nodded slowly, although Kira could tell he wanted to go in. She then turned her back on him and also walked through the portrait hole, which closed behind her.

The inside of the common room was swarming with students. There was a notice board on one side, a few long tables for studying. And there was also a fire place with a few comfortable looking chairs and couches surrounding it. Kira walked into a dark, deserted corner of the room and leaned against the wall as she looked around the room. Harry was sitting in a chair by the fire, staring into it. Kira wondered what he was thinking about, and the thought of approaching him briefly crossed her mind.

When the clock in the corner read 11:00, Harry was the only person still in the common room. Kira stood straight and walked over to him. She sat in a chair next to him and looked at the fire then at him. "You should get to bed." She advised.

Harry jumped and looked over, suddenly noticing her sitting next to him. "Oh, yeah. Right."

"What were you doing?" Kira asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"I dunno." He said quietly, "I guess, I was just waiting for something to happen."

Kira understood suddenly what he was doing. "You were waiting for Sirius… weren't you?"

Harry looked up at her suddenly, "How d'you know about Sirius?"

"He kinda took care of me, once." She said, looking at the ground. "I was there one time when he went to see you in the fire. He hit his head on the top of the fireplace when he jerked out… because of a teacher, I'm pretty sure. I had completely forgotten about it."

"So, you lived with him for a while?"

"Yeah, I got there right after you went to school last year."

"It's all my fault." Harry said in a whisper, "If I hadn't have gone to find Voldemort, Sirius wouldn't be dead."

"No. It's not your fault." Kira said sternly. "If you keep thinking like that, then you'll never get past it all. I knew something bad was going to happen when Sirius left, but I let him go anyway. I could have gone with him; I could have stopped him from dying, but I didn't. A lot of thing could have happened, and we all could have done something different. But thinking what you could have done doesn't help anything. Don't blame yourself, because it wasn't entirely your fault… It was… a joint effort." Kira stopped herself, realizing how stupid that sounded.

Harry let out a small laugh, "Yeah, I guess you're right." Kira looked fondly into the flames, talking about Sirius to somebody who actually understood him made her feel a lot better. She thought of how Sirius had been looking into this very room, through that very same fireplace, trying to find the boy she was sitting next to. The two sat in silence for a while, then Harry stood, "I'm gonna go to sleep now. I'll see you in the morning." Kira nodded and leaned back in the chair with a sigh. She wished Sirius was still there, but she was almost happy it had all happened; if it hadn't, she wouldn't know Harry. Kira smiled; maybe things were finally going to start looking up again for her.


	4. ch 3

Ch. 3

Kira stayed awake the whole night, sitting in the comfortable chair, staring at the set of stairs to the dormitories. As the sun slowly rose, some students burst from their dormitories and stopped suddenly, noticing a demon had spent the night sitting in the chair by the fire. The portrait hole opened as the room began to fill with students. A hand lay on Kira's shoulder. "I'm taking over." said a sly voice. Kira turned to see who she recognized as Nigel, an energy demon. He could control the currents of electricity just as easily as Kira could control the flames that sat in the fireplace.

Kira nodded and walked out of the room, happy to get away from the penetrating stares from the students. But, after meeting up with Artemis, found only more stares from the students along the corridors. Artemis transformed to his demon form and hovered by where Kira stood. She then followed him and the two flew into the air, patrolling the corridors that were surrounding the stairs and the large open space that covered all floors.

"When breakfast starts," Artemis said as Kira passed him on the third floor, "We're supposed to go in, so that when Harry goes to Dumbledore's office, we can follow." Kira just nodded as she flew up to the fourth floor and Artemis continued his descent down to the second floor.

As Kira passed the corridor right by the Gryffindor common room, she could Harry's voice echoing. She flew right towards the sound, convincing herself there could be trouble. Apparently, Artemis had been watching her, because he was right behind her as she landed on the corridor and watched Harry from a distance.

He was yelling at his friend, Hermione, who was sheepishly looking at him. His other friend, Ron, was standing to the side, looking awestruck. "Now don't lose your temper again, like last year!" Hermione countered when Harry took a breath.

"What do you mean 'like last year'!" Harry yelled back at her, "You're the one that started all this! I TOLD you! I don't want to talk about it, okay!" He then stormed off to the Great Hall where breakfast was being served.

Hermione looked up and noticed Kira and Artemis. She walked up to the two and said quietly, "Don't mind him. She's just sore because his godfather's passed away at the end of last year… and he still blames himself."

Ron nudged her, "Harry was right. You don't gotta tell the whole world."

Artemis smiled, "Don't worry, we already knew about Black. She's connected," he shoved a thumb at Kira. "See, she knew-" Kira shoved her hands out and pushed Artemis over the banister. He took to his demon form and flew up level to her. "What was that for!"

"Like he said," Kira said stubbornly. "You don't gotta tell the whole world!" She then also took her demon form and flew off the banister, "We have to go to the Great Hall." She said before swooping away from Ron and Hermione. Artemis shrugged and waved at the two before flying after her.

Once everybody had gathered in the Great Hall and begun eating, the morning owl post came as it did every morning. Hermione, who was still keeping a close eye on the _Daily Prophet_, got her issue and put a knut in a small leather pouch that hung on the owl's leg. The owl flew off and Hermione opened up the newspaper and searched through it as she ate her breakfast. After some students were finishing with their breakfasts, Professor McGonagall started handing out schedules for the year to all the students in her house. Along with handing Harry his schedule, she also gave him a piece of paper that had, in quick handwriting, and note that said "To the Headmaster's office after breakfast." Harry read it and turned to ask Professor McGonagall what it was all about, but she had moved on, determined not to look at Harry.

Harry then looked at his schedule. "Potions, double Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and double Transfiguration for today." Harry said with a sigh.

Hermione suddenly looked up, "So you _did_ do well on your Potions O.W.L.s?"

Harry sighed, "Yeah, I just barely got an Outstanding on it." He had gotten his results of his O.W.L.s test just a few weeks before he had left to go to Hogwarts. Uncle Vernon was completely hysterical when he saw the owl fly in during breakfast with Harry's grades in its beak.

Ron looked at his schedule, "Looks like most of our classes are together." He said before he read out his schedule. "Potions, double History of Magic –I hope you have that with me, Hermione–" He added in, because he could never manage to stay awake as their only ghost teacher had a tendency to ramble in a dull voice all class, which caused most of the students to fall asleep. Only Hermione managed to resist Professor Binns's ability to put his class to sleep. "Defense Against the Dark Arts, and double Transfiguration."

Hermione looked down at her schedule and sighed, "Yes, we have Potions, Transfiguration, and History of Magic together."

Harry felt his stomach overturn; he only had two classes with Hermione and three with Ron. He knew he could do well in Charms without the two to help him. But later, when they compared the other days they had classes, he wondered how he could survive some of his classes without Hermione to help him.

After Harry finished with breakfast, he went straight to the Headmaster's office, noticing Dumbledore had left before everybody, undoubtedly so he could be ready for Harry's arrival. When Harry got to the stone humpback witch, he suddenly realized he didn't know the password. But, to his relief, at that moment, Artemis came striding out of the Headmaster's office himself. He jumped when he saw Harry, then smiled and moved to the side so Harry could get in. Harry stood on the constantly moving spiraled staircase and eventually reached the Headmaster's door.

He gave a soft knock and the door opened of its own accord. Kira stood on one side of the room, her arms crossed, leaning against the wall. Her black hair fell gently over her face and her narrowed eyes were watching Harry. He couldn't understand why Kira was acting so strangely to him when just the other night, they had enjoyed speaking and laughing together.

"You wanted to see me?" Harry asked in a much more quiet and shaky voice than he had expected.

"Please, take a seat." Dumbledore said in his usual, calm voice. "I am hear to talk to you about precautions I have decided to take considering the fact that Voldemort has now gone public. Many of his Death Eaters will become less cautious of what they do… and where. It is very possible that somebody may come into this school, looking for you. I have been troubled by this fact all summer, until I received some inspiration from a certain young lady." He smiled at Kira, who was watching him, unemotional.

"And, luckily, I think I may have found the perfect solution. Now Harry, I have learned from my mistakes, and I am now telling you the full truth, because you deserve to know what is happening in your life. It is my opinion that it is in your best interest to have somebody watch over you, to make sure you are perfectly safe at all times. I have also found that it may be necessary to have somebody that will be easier to relate to… maybe even become a friend." Kira closed her eyes; she wasn't here to make friends, as she had told her self over and over. "I am sure you have already met Kira… she will be your… sort of, guardian.

"She will watch over to and go with you to your classes to make sure you don't run into trouble." Dumbledore smiled, "I do hope you find this very reasonable… I am only looking out for your best interest." He then turned to Kira, "Would you like to say anything?"

Kira shrugged, "I'm just here to do my job."

"Right." Harry didn't know what to feel about what was happening. He didn't know whether to be happy or angry of what. He just stood there, looking at Dumbledore.

"Well, I'm sure you can make it to your next class without being late." Dumbledore smiled, "Hurry."

Harry nodded and walked out of the room, Kira following him.

"What do you make of this?" Harry asked as he walked at a quickened pace towards the dungeons where Potions with Professor Snape was held.

Kira shrugged again, "I don't really have much of an opinion. I had a feeling something like this was gonna happen when I found out you were probably going to get attacked _and_ Sirius was your godfather."

"Well, I'd rather have you following me than somebody that thinks they know… but they don't." Harry said quietly. "I mean, you understand better than a lot of people."

"Define somebody that thinks they know." said an unsure voice behind Harry.

Harry turned to look at her, "What-"

"Hi." Artemis was standing behind Kira with a large smile. Kira put her head in her hand and closed her eyes as she shook her head.

"Oh… um… are _both_ of you going to be following me?" Harry asked.

"We'd prefer to call it _accompanying_." Artemis said with a naïve smile.

"I think that's just you." Kira said sharpness in her voice.

"What ever." Harry said as he began to walk quickly to Snape's class, afraid that he was going to be late. Artemis shrugged and walked on with a wide grin still on his face. Kira followed a distance behind the two, wondering how she had gotten dragged into all this.

Potions class was just as dreadful as Harry had expected. Professor Snape walked in from the back of the class and closed the door with a resounding _clink._ The class fell silent and Snape walked down the isle, inspecting his first class. When Harry took his seat, Professor Snape looked at him with a smug grim as he begun his small, beginning of the year speech. "Although many of you are probably proud of yourselves for making it into my Potions class after your O.W.L.s, do not think that this means I will be any easier on you all. On the contrary, I will push you all harder than I have been. As I am sure most of you have understood earlier, I have very high expectations for _all_ of my classes and _all_ of my students. Many of you have worked very hard and rightfully earned your entry into this class. And some of you," He glanced back at Harry, "I even wonder how you managed to make it into my Potions class." Although he was without his usual accompaniment of Crabbe and Goyle, Draco Malfoy sniggered and managed to get a few more Slytherins to join him.

"Ignore them." Hermione whispered to Harry, who had clenched his fists.

Snape waved his wand and instructions appeared on the board. "Because it is the first day, I would like to see where most of you stand and where you need your improvements. Finish this by the end of the class." The then walked around the room sedately, eyeing student's attempts at the very hard spell, insulting students with his usual smirk. Half way through the class, Harry had messed up on one of the instructions, and Snape cleared out his cauldron and said quietly, but so the whole class could hear, "Start over. It must still be done at the end of the class, or you fail."

"That's really unfair." Hermione said in a whisper after Snape had left.

"Sorry, mate." Ron said, glaring at Snape's back, "He's just out to get you. Probably sore because you're in his class again." Harry nodded unemotional as he started his potion again.


End file.
